Retaining support for flexible thin-sheet materials



June 10, 1958 J. T. DANELL 2,337,304

RETAINING SUPPORT FOR FLEXIBLE THIN-SHEET MATERIALS Filed April 18, 1955a INVENTOR. JOHN T. DANELL RETAINING SUPPORT FDR FLEXIBLE THIN-SHEETMATERIALS Generally speaking, the present invention pertains to thedrapery-hanging and allied arts, and more particularly pertains to adevice for grippingly retaining and supporting a flexible thin-sheetmember in a virtually vertical depending relationship with respect toweightbearing means, as in hanging draperies, cloth to be dried, and thelike, on hooks, shower-curtains, curtain-rods, traverses, clotheslinesand similar weight-bearing memhers.

I am aware that many devices, temporarily and permanently attachable tothin-sheet members to support them, have been previously invented anddeveloped. However, all such prior supports, known to me, have sufferedfrom numerous disadvantages. Temporary attachments of the clothespin orspring-grip type fail under heavy loads; the thin-sheet member pulls outof engagement under the force of its own weight. More permanentattachments, such as the rings and pins used with draperies or the ringsset into the fabric or plastic of shower-curtains, tend to tear thethin-sheet member when their small area of contact with said member issubjected to stress from weight or from being suddenly pulled to oneside in use. The positions of such permanent attachments on thin-sheetmembers can be changed only with difficulty, and not without leavingmarks on said members of the previous attachment positions.

With the above points in mind, an object of the present invention is toprovide a retaining support adapted to removably grasp flexiblethin-sheet materials, and adapted to be hung from auxiliaryweight-bearing means.

.It is a further object to provide a device, as provided in thepreceding object, in which downward force on a thin-sheet materialincreases the force engaging it with said device.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a device, asprovided in the preceding objects, which is adapted for slidableengagement with an auxiliary longitudinal weight-bearing member.

Other and allied objects of the present invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art after a careful perusal of the presentspecification, the accompanying illustrations, and the appended claim.

To facilitate understanding, reference will be made to thehereinbelow-described drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a preferred form of the device of thepresent invention, shown in normal or use position with wedge and recessmeans fully engaged;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the device of Fig. 1 with athin-sheet member engaged, the plane and direction of the view beingindicated by the line and arrows Ill-4H of Fig. 5; v

' Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the device of Fig. 1 in disassembledcondition, the engaging means being removed for convenience;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the device of Fig. 1 in use, grippingthin-sheet member and depending from 7 indicated generally at 5.

"as indicated at 16 in Figs. 31an'd 4. The recess- A is.

atented June 10, 1958 2 a longitudinal weight-bearing member (notindicated in Fig. 3);

. Fig. 6 shows portions of a modified form of the device of thepreceding figures, in disassembled form; similar parts are numberedsimilarly, but with primed numbers; Fig. 7 shows a front elevation ofportions. of the device of Fig. 6 with a thin-sheet member engagedtherewith; and Fig. 8 shows the cross-section of the device of Fig. 6indicated by the line and arrows VIII-VIII of Fig. 7.

The illustrated devices are constructed oftransparent material such assynthetic resin (e. g. Lucite acrylic resin) to make clear theconfiguration of the devices in the elevational and perspective views;although the surface characteristics, strength, and (in the engagingmeans) flexibility of such material as Lucite make it suitable forconstructing my device, it is not intended that the construction belimited to transparent material or to synthetic resin: metal, wood,'orother materials may be used singly or in combination.

The auxiliary elements, namely the thin-sheet member and theweight-bearing member, have been indicated with broken lines.

The device of the present invention is usable for hanging a thin-sheetmember of flexible material (such as fabric, plastic film, and the like)as is indicated at 1,

from weigh-bearing means such as the longitudinal weight-bearing memberindicated at 2. Cooperating with sa d weight-bearing member is theengaging means 3, consisting of a loop. It constructed of a rigidmaterial and as nearly closed as is shown, this loop is equivalent to aclosed ring; if constructed of flexible material, it can have the member2 forced through its opening. The form illustrated may obviously haveeither characteristic. If the loop 3 is used with a smaller-diameterweight-bearing member than that shown, it is equivalent to a hook.

From the loop 3 depends the tensile portion 4, which in the. illustratedform is an extension of the wedge means In the illustrated form the bodymeans consists of two side portions 6a and 6b, mounted on a back portion7 and laterally spaced by recess means as indicated generally at A. Therecess A has a top opening positioned at the top .of the recess A asindicated at 14 in Fig. 4, a bottom openingpositioned atlthe bottom ofthe recess A as indicated at 15 in Fig; 4, and a front openingpositioned at the front of the recess A bounded by the firstthin-sheet-engaging surface, consisting of the back surface portion 8and the side surface portions 9a and 9b (which converge toward the topand front). Note that above point B the surface portions 9a and 9b arecut away slightly to reduce stress on the thin-sheet member. The wedge 5has a corresponding back surface'portion 1t) and side surface portions11a and 11b.

In Fig. 4, the device is shown disassembled, ready for use: note theclearance between the tensile means 4 (or, the top of the wedge 5) andthe walls of the recess. The thinsheet member 1 is then introduced intorecess A, the wedge is pressed against said member 1, and the tensilemeans pulled up until thin-sheet member 1 is gripped, .as shown in Figs.3 and 5, and the loop 3 is hung on weight-bearing member 2.

The device of Figs. 1 through 5 has been found especially suited forhanging a shower-curtain from a rod. The device of Figs. 6 through 8 ismore suited for hanging fabrics, being provided with friction-increasingor cloth-engaging serrations as at 12, and having a configu rationsuited for more bulky materials. The engaging means (not shown) may alsotake a different (and appropriate) form from that of Figs. 1 through 5:a strong hook or loop of one of the numerous configurations wellknown inthe art may be used. Note the stress-reducing angle of the surfaceportions 9'11 and 9b at point B.

The rear surface 13' of the body means may receive ornamentation ifdesired; it is exposed to view when in use, although the front surfaceis-hidden by the member 1. To use the device of the present invention,one places a portion of a flexible thin-sheet member infront of saidfront opening, places-'saidtensile means (or the narrow upper part ofthe wedge means) in front of the thin-sheet member against said opening,presses said portion of the thin-sheet member and said wedge meansthrough the bottom and front openings into the recess means, and pullssaid tensile means through said top opening until the wedge means andthin-sheet member are securely gripped by the first thin-sheet engagingsurface. The thin sheet member is frictionally engaged with both saidfirst and said second surface means. As it pulls said body meansdownward with respect to said wedge means, the recess and wedge meansbecome more firmly mated and grip the thin-sheet member more securely.There should be suflicient looseness or tolerance between said first andsecond surfaces to allow this assembly operation to be readily performedand allow the wedge means to make an effective engagement with therecess means. The en gaging means is then engaged with saidweight-bearing means to maintain said thin-sheet member in dependentrelationship with respect to said weight-bearing means ina virtuallyvertical position. To remove the thin-sheet member from its enggagementwith my device above sequence of operations is reversed.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention willoccur. to those skilled in the art after a careful study hereof. Allsuch properly Within the basic spirit and scope of the present inventionare intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as ifspecifically described, illustrated, and claimed herein.

The exact compositions, configurations, relative positionings andcooperative relationships of the various component parts of the presentinvention are not critical, and may be modified substantially within thebasic teachings, spirit and scope of the present invention.

The embodiment of the present invention specifically described,illustrated and claimed herein is exemplary only, and is not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention, which is intended to beinterpreted in the light of the prior art and the appended claim only,with due consideration for the doctrine of equivalents.

I claim:

A device'for grippingly retaining and supporting a flexible thin-sheetmember in a virtually vertical depending relationship with respect to alongitudinal weight-bearing member, comprising: body means having firstthin-sheetengaging surface means by which tapered recess means isdefined; said first surface means having a back surface portion and twolaterally spaced inclined opposing side surface portions, said surfaceportions forming three bounding sides of said recess means; said recessmeans having a top opening, a bottom opening, and a front openingcontinuous with said bottom opening and placed opposite said backsurface portion; said two inclined opposing side surface portionsconverging toward each other in a forward direction and in a verticallyupward direction for a substantial distance of their length, and saidinclined opposing side surface portions being parallel for shortdistance at their uppermost vertical ends; wedge means in complementaryretainable relationship with said recess means, having secondthin-sheet-engaging surface means cooperable with respect to said backsurface portion and said two laterally spaced inclined side surfaceportions defining said tapered recess means to grippingly retain aportion of a flexible thin-sheet member in said recess means forciblygripped therebetween; said wedge means having a rigid extension formingtensile means, said tensile means being passable through said openings;said wedge means having a plurality of serrations along the portionsthereof which are forcibly cooperable with respect to said two laterallyspaced inclined side surface portions defining said tapered recess meansand cooperable to forcibly grip said flexible thin-sheet membertherebetween; open loop means attached to said tensile means, removahlyretainably and slideably engageable with said longitudinalweight-bearing member to hold the device, and a thin-sheet membergrasped by the device, in virtually vertical depending relationship withsaid weight-bearing member, and to allow the positioning of thethin-sheet member by the sliding of said engaging means along saidweight-bearing member.

References fitted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS422,741 Dearborn Mar. 4, 1890 1,022,699 Reed Apr. 9, 1912 1,537,881Reynolds May 12, 1925 1,975,000 Beaumont Sept. 25, .1934

FOREIGN PATENTS 146,999 Sweden Sept. 21, 1954 685,674 Great Britain Jan.7, 1953

